the dutch bike helmet discourse is still so funny. scores of indignant dutch people going on about how they dont need to wear helmets because everybody is used to bike based stuff and knows how to handle themselves, periodically interjected by people who work in emergency rooms in the netherlands talking about how many cases of bike fall related head trauma they see regularly.

sometimes I read my own writing and I'm like "hell yeah that's actually cool", and sometimes it's just like.......what did I mean by this. what the fuck does this mean:

like from the surrounding context, the guy is surprised by something and is experiencing palpitations. but why this metaphor? a bicycle pierced his chest. why? is this a typo? was I sick? am I stupid?

today I used the phrase "breasting boobily" in casual real life conversation and everyone was shocked asking how I came up with that and I had to explain it. ive been at the devil's sacrament so long that I forgot he wasn't god

On this day, 21 August 1970, the Black Panther newspaper published a letter from co-founder Huey P Newton in which he criticised attitudes in the left groups towards women and LGBT+ people, and called for solidarity with the women's and gay liberation movements.
Newton criticised homophobia and sexism in revolutionary movements, commenting that "homosexuals… might be the most oppressed people in… society", and called on the left to desist using homophobic language:
"We should be careful about using those terms that might turn our friends off. The terms 'f****t' and 'punk' should be deleted from our vocabulary, and especially we should not attach names normally designed for homosexuals to men who are enemies of the people, such as [president Richard] Nixon or [attorney general John] Mitchell. Homosexuals are not enemies of the people."
The letter stated that as a basic principle, "a person should have the freedom to use his body in whatever way he wants", and went on to say that: "there is nothing to say that a homosexual cannot also be a revolutionary... Quite the contrary, maybe a homosexual could be the most revolutionary."
Newton argued that all radical events should include "full participation of the gay liberation movement and the women's liberation movement".
The move came a year after the Stonewall rebellion, and the subsequent foundation of the Gay Liberation Front, which supported the Black liberation movement, and militantly raised issues such as homophobia within radical organisations.
We discuss this in our podcast episodes 25-26: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/05/13/e21-22-the-stonewall-riots-and-pride-at-50/

yes, India made legal gender change impossible
but the doctor down the street who gives me my T shots
in a clinic so small that it's just two rooms
was excited for me when she said my voice had dropped

yes, India made legal gender change impossible
but the receptionist who could see that I was a man
didn't bat an eyelash when I asked to see the gynecologist
and called me sir when he asked how I wanted to pay

yes, India made legal gender change impossible
but the barber cuts my hair exactly how I want it
and never gave me strange looks for being in a men's salon
not even back when I didn't pass as one

yes, India made legal gender change impossible
but my friends have always gendered me correctly
and stick to it even when it confuses other people
and my friend's little sibling calls me older brother in Kannada

yes, India made legal gender change impossible
but my dog learned my new name quicker than the humans
and she runs to give me a kiss when she's told to
without being confused about who's being referred to

yes, India made legal gender change impossible
but I can feel the Adam's apple growing in my throat
and my muscles getting stronger, and my smile more real
and I'm growing a beard, and I talk more freely

yes, India made legal gender change impossible
but I'm here, and I'm alive, and so are you
and there are good people, people who care
and don't let them make you forget that--
you are not alone.

On this day, 21 August 1970, the Black Panther newspaper published a letter from co-founder Huey P Newton in which he criticised attitudes in the left groups towards women and LGBT+ people, and called for solidarity with the women's and gay liberation movements.
Newton criticised homophobia and sexism in revolutionary movements, commenting that "homosexuals… might be the most oppressed people in… society", and called on the left to desist using homophobic language:
"We should be careful about using those terms that might turn our friends off. The terms 'f****t' and 'punk' should be deleted from our vocabulary, and especially we should not attach names normally designed for homosexuals to men who are enemies of the people, such as [president Richard] Nixon or [attorney general John] Mitchell. Homosexuals are not enemies of the people."
The letter stated that as a basic principle, "a person should have the freedom to use his body in whatever way he wants", and went on to say that: "there is nothing to say that a homosexual cannot also be a revolutionary... Quite the contrary, maybe a homosexual could be the most revolutionary."
Newton argued that all radical events should include "full participation of the gay liberation movement and the women's liberation movement".
The move came a year after the Stonewall rebellion, and the subsequent foundation of the Gay Liberation Front, which supported the Black liberation movement, and militantly raised issues such as homophobia within radical organisations.
We discuss this in our podcast episodes 25-26: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/05/13/e21-22-the-stonewall-riots-and-pride-at-50/

growing up cartoons exposed me to the concept that camels can have 1 or 2 humps, but never explained that these were separate species of camel. in my head i assumed it to be a sorta pokemon situation